Sandy Springs Friends School Puerto Rico 2024

March 10, 2024

We all got up very early to begin our expedition. We boarded the plane, and during takeoff our pilot asked the passengers “if you’re traveling with children”, why?. We landed and our Global Works leaders greeted us with pizza. During the drive from the airport to the Big Yellow House, our new home for the next 3 days, the van served as the vessel to our enlightenment of Puerto Rican culture. We dispersed to our respective quarters, settling into our yellow abode with the spirit of longing for the adventure that awaits. After we laid our eyes upon the scaled, reptilian squirrels of puerto rico (iguanas), we traversed the streets and sand, bypassing a parade of jeep wranglers. Ensuring proper observation of either side of the path, we made our way to where the land meets the water. We returned to yellow abode and engaged in showers and a fierce volleyball competition. We came together and engorged a scrumptious feast. After dinner, we partook in an activity of self and communal discovery. We gathered once more under the shared purpose of establishing and codifying the the principles and standards of behavior we should abide by for the remainder of our travels. (Can you tell we’re tired?)

By: Alexios, Sasha, Timo & Kaydin

March 11, 2024

Today we woke up and ate breakfast. I thought that breakfast was amazing but I sadly did not eat enough of it 😋 We went to San Juan and walked around the edges of the island. We learned about the history of Ponce de León which was really interesting. After that we were given time to walk around in the fort and we took many glamorous photos that served. We ate lunch at the restaurant Raíces and then went into souvenir shops. Some of us even bought outfits for the Salsa dance lesson tomorrow night! We are so excited 💃🏻

We drove back mostly slumped on the van and eventually ventured to the beach. We all saw sea turtles! There were a few poking their heads out of the water, so that was amazing! The beach waves were also huge and we tried to body surf with no such success. We got back and joined the guy’s volleyball match. The girls played against the guys and we cooked them. We ate dinner and watched a documentary about Puerto Rico, after that we did an activity to reflect on it, our days here, and the community work we came to do, also we answered questions surrounding how we can help the community during our trip. I’m looking forward to working as a group to help the communities with housing construction from the results of Hurricane María! See you tomorrow!

By: Elana & Aniya

March 12. 2024

Beginning the day, a couple of us attended a 7:30 A.M yoga session, where we stretched to started our day. After eating breakfast, lathering up in sunscreen, filling up water bottled, and packing a change of clothes we traveled to our first service session. We traveled to a house with the goal of completing a wall. This included mixing cement with stones, sand, and water. With combined efforts among us the students, the school chaperones, the global works leaders, and the members of the building team, we managed to finished filling the wall’s mold before lunch! This experience allowed us to get closer to the Puerto Rico community and really work hard for a greater cause!
We went to Maria’s house for a delicious lunch, featuring; chicken, rice, salad, and flan, it was the dessert from last night, but we preferred to save it for lunch. Good idea!
We then drove back to the Big Yellow House and decided to go to the beach.
We swam and then decided to walk though a beautiful path leading to a breathtaking view of the cove. We then walked back and did a quick group activity at the house followed by dinner which contained chicken, potatoes, salad, and bread. We then had salsa dancing lessons! We all had so much fun dancing with everyone and learning the steps. It was a great day!

By: Suutumee Negash & Lilly Kaufmannthe

March 13, 2024

Today we returned for our second day of construction work with the Villa del Rio community. Even though we were all feeling sore from the hard work yesterday, we sped through the final touches on the wall we built, working smoothly together with some experience under our belt. We also had some quality time with the dogs running around the site, including a puppy we named José!

We had a speedy lunch cooked by Maria, another member of the community, and then went straight back to the site to put in rebar on the roof—tedious work made easier by many hands. Willy, Angel, and the rest of the team expressed their gratitude for our work, and we were equally grateful to get to know them! We then spent some well deserved time at the beach, including getting the chance to swim in the tide pools. We had a fun afternoon of volleyball and football, and also spent some time sharing gratitude and highlights from the day. For dinner, the Villa del Rio community joined us. They gave us small gifts and we took an awesome picture with all of them. Tonight is our last night at the Big Yellow House, and we are sad to leave, but so happy to have gotten to know this wonderful community!

By: Greta G-T, Max K, Izzy P, and Clara F

March 14, 2024

We started our day off with an early breakfast, as well as packing our bags leaving the Big Yellow House to service with nature. We had a rough day in the heat pulling weeds, cutting branches etc., but we pushes through. We had amazing Gyros and finished the job! We hopped into the vans and headed towards Walgreens for some treats and our new hotels. After settling in, we had a painting activity on the terrace with an amazing breeze. The painting was based on memories we admire the most. We had rushed to move the tables since rain had started down-pouring. We had an appetizing dinner and with great conversation. We had our daily meeting sharing highlights and shoutouts. Now, we are heading to our comfortable beds preparing for a big day tomorrow!

By: Mikayla and William

March 15, 2024

We woke up and had breakfast, of pancakes, eggs, potatoes, and fruit. After breakfast we left for El Yunque National Park rainforest. We walked along a treacherous muddy path to a stream with pools we could swim and wade in. It was a beautiful moment to connect with nature. After the walk and the experience in the water, we then ventured back to the vans washed off and headed to lunch at El Terruño, and then went to go shopping on the strip around it after, some of us we got virgin piña coladas, at the end was expensive but really yummy. We then headed to the beach and spent some time there before going home to relax and pack for the early trip in the morning. Those from the Surfing Turtle went to the Luquillo Beach Hostel for a pizza party! To end the day we then got dressed to go kayaking in the bioluminescent bay. It was a super rainy night but that didn’t take away from the awe of seeing naturally glowing water. As we paddled swirls of bioluminescence shone a light blue. Our destination was a lagoon where we were able to explore and race kayaks on our own, it was amazing and magical, our trip leaders said they had never seen such a bright bioluminescent night, and it was because there was no moon and it was very cloudy. Finally we headed back to the hotel for some sleep before our early flight.

By: Jason, Dennis and Tobias